


not much like a lover

by prettydizzeed



Category: Lemonade Mouth (2011)
Genre: Homophobia, M/M, Trans Charlie Delgado, Trans Male Character, Transphobia, wen is a badass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 15:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15318627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettydizzeed/pseuds/prettydizzeed
Summary: “I'm a lover, not a fighter, bro,” Wen had said. Charlie isn't sure he qualifies as either; he treats his drumsticks like weapons, sure, but he’s been punched as often as he’s been kissed, which is never.





	not much like a lover

**Author's Note:**

> title is from "Blue Eyes" by MIKA

“I'm a lover, not a fighter, bro,” Wen had said. Charlie isn't sure he qualifies as either; he treats his drumsticks like weapons, sure, but he’s been punched as often as he’s been kissed, which is never.

 _I’m a lover_ , his brain repeats on loop, in a rhythm, a beat that’s calm but insistent, echoing Wen’s certainty. Wen has always known who he is; he came out in the middle of ninth grade literature class by saying, “Man, Mercutio is my type of guy,” and expecting everyone to know what he meant by that. And they did, ten minutes later, because the guy sitting next to Wen had said, “Dude, that sounds kinda gay,” and Wen had raised his eyebrows and stared back and said, “Oh, shit, my bad, I meant for it to sound _really_ gay,” and Ray had gotten detention for asking to move seats because he was uncomfortable sitting next to Wen, and Wen had gotten detention for saying, “Yeah, Ray, because I’m totally going to fuck you in the middle of English. Everyone knows the homosexuals only attack during free period.”

And Charlie had sat in the corner, tapping his pencil so hard against his desk that it broke.

Not much has changed, really, he thinks now, as his pencil snaps. At least they aren’t as expensive as drumsticks. Can't do as much damage, either; Charlie’s fingers are still sensitive, newly recovered from being broken, and he's not sure if they're tingling slightly from lack of blood flow or from the memory of Wen holding his hand to inspect the splints, lingering a beat too long.

 _You're my type of guy_ , he'd wanted to say, but instead he'd smiled in a way that looked more like a wince and reapplied the ice.

Wen might not think he’s a fighter, but that hadn’t stopped him from standing just barely too close to Ray and asking, “Hey, man, I’m sorry, I don’t think I quite caught that, would you mind repeating it for me?” too casually, too politely, when Ray had called Charlie by the wrong name last year. And it hadn’t stopped Wen from saying, “Chill, man. Wash your hands. I dare Brennigan to fucking try anything,” when Charlie had tried to duck out of the men’s restroom the instant another student entered. The guy had looked at them, and Charlie had angled his face away, but Wen had stared back and asked, “What, do I need to teach you how to take a piss?” in a tone that was nothing short of combative.

So—if Wen considers all of that “not much,” how much more intense must he be when he loves?

Charlie replays the past three years in his head: Wen’s hands out of his pockets in an instant whenever someone started talking shit about Charlie, curled tight into fists he’d never use; Wen’s awful handwriting dancing across five pages of notebook paper in a letter to Principal Brennigan that was almost definitely thrown out unread; the side of Wen’s left palm and pinkie finger stained with blue Sharpie from when he’d scribbled out the “WOMEN’S” part of the bathroom sign and written ALL-GENDER directly onto the wood; Wen’s knuckles rapping against the desk in barely-contained fury when they both ended up getting detention for it, matching the rhythm of Charlie’s pencils, face flushed and voice practically hoarse from how long he’d yelled that Charlie hadn’t had anything to do with this.

And Charlie thinks, maybe he’s already seen the most intense Wen can get. Maybe he already knows what Wen looks like when he’s in love.


End file.
